Friday, April 7, 2017

Sexy Country Songbird Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is about as controversial as a sweet, unassuming American singer-songwriter can get. She's also about as successful as an American singer-songwriter can get. Sometimes, or at least in Taylor's case, the one comes with the other.

Raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Taylor famously, at least in retrospect, grew up on a farm that grew Christmas trees. How homespun can you get? That's pretty Ma and Pa Kettle stuff right there. It's not like everyone has a Christmas Tree farm down the road.

Swift began performing at the Berks Youth Theatre Academy at age nine. Her parents took her to New York City for singing lessons, which is quite a schlep on a regular basis. Obviously, her parents were completely behind her, it's not like she just hopped on her bike and hit the scene on 6th Avenue.

The songwriting bug bit Taylor at age 12 when a local guy introduced her to the guitar (no, she didn't write a song about him - I think. Did she?). Taylor moved to Nashville, Tennessee at the age of fourteen to pursue her career in country music. Since then, she has released a string of hits that address the vagaries of love.

It's easy to talk dismissively about anyone's achievements, so let's not do the obvious. Taylor Swift has become a virtual "hit machine," where everything she touches turns into gold. Words cannot describe the success of the little girl from Pennsylvania. Taylor Swift bestrides the world of music like a modern Colossus.

Swift is notorious for writing about, how should we put it, "issues" she has had with her own relationships. The rap against Taylor is that she loves 'em, contrives to get dumped by 'em, then makes a fortune writing about how put-upon she is. That all makes Taylor sound quite Machiavellian, when in fact it is probably her natural way of, um, songwriting. This tendency makes dating Taylor a risky proposition if you don't want everything you do with her at risk of becoming part of one of Taylor's songs, with you, of course, not getting to put in your own two cents on the matter. Of course, if you're really farsighted, you would get her to agree to cut you in on the profits later. Then, well, it would be kind of delicious.

Taylor once insured her legs for $40 million dollars. That sounds like a lot, but compare it to the fact that Mariah Carey has insured her legs for $1 billion. Taylor Swift's legs are absolutely stunning and they deserve to be insured, but not just because she likes them. All medical issues that affect the appearance of her legs such as bruises, permanent skin damage, torn tendons, fractured bones and anything else that would leave scars would be covered. Naturally, Taylor relies upon showcasing her legs at her shows, so it is not a vanity thing. Well, probably not a vanity. Okay, maybe it's a little bit of a vanity thing, and a publicity thing. But not only that.

Taylor Swift in the "Blank Space" video (Photo: Vevo).

Taylor Swift likes to wears classic outfits such as leather jackets and pants. She likes to add very small flourishes to high-quality ensembles, relying on her personality and beauty to "sell" her rather straightforward garb.

Taylor rather famously has a mansion on the Gold Coast in Newport, Rhode Island. This is part of a shift by Taylor from the Nashville scene to the more pop-oriented New York vibe. She's never going to be mistaken for a hip-hop artist, though.

Taylor Swift's 2014 album "1989" has been the peak of her career - so far. Well, it would be the peak of just about anyone's career. It has sold about 10 million copies, give or take a million or two - when you reach those kinds of sales heights, what's a million between friends? Taylor Swift has released five studio albums, and they each have sold at least 5 million copies. Five million copies! They are:

Taylor Swift (2006)

Fearless (2008)

Speak Now (2010)

Red (2012)

1989 (2014)

Looks like Taylor is due to drop another one. Oh, and another thing about Taylor - her album sales have trended higher over her career, not lower. Her most recent album to date, "1989," has sold more than any of her earlier albums that already had established her as a household name. That's very unusual.

"1989" apparently was named after the year of Taylor's birth. I lived through 1989, and it wasn't all that special, to tell you the truth. However, I didn't know at the time that Taylor had come along.

Billboard Magazine named Taylor Swift its "Woman of the Year" for 2014. She also won all sorts of other awards, such as three Grammy Awards, for "1989." Really, after the first handful of Grammy Awards, they've all got to start blending together. They should just retire the Grammy Awards, or rename them the Taylor Swift Awards.

Taylor Swift has dated, among others:
Scottish DF and record producer Calvin Harris,

Tom Hiddleston

Harry Styles

Conor Kennedy

Zac Efron

Eddie Redmayne

Garrett Hedlund

Chord Overstreet

Adam Young

Jake Gyllenhaal

Toby Hemingway

Cory Monteith

John Mayer

Taylor Lautner

Lucas Till

Joe Jonas

Karlie Kloss

Oh wait, scratch that last one, that's a whole other topic.

Some people want to claim that even discussing Taylor's growing menagerie of former song topics is sexist. However, Taylor doesn't just dally with Joe from down the street - unless your street is in Hyannisport and Joe is Robert Kennedy's grandson. Then, yes, Taylor dates any old Joe from down the road.

Taylor Swift is not a Victoria's Secret model. Taylor is 5'10", which roughly approximates the "magic height" for Victoria's Secret models. She also hangs out with Victoria's Secret models such as Karlie Kloss (who, according to Taylor and Karlie, had her own room at Taylor's pad in New York - you know, for convenience. "Whatever"). Taylor also sang at a couple of Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows. She likes to visit the models backstage - with her own personal professional photographer - at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show every November. But, she's not actually a Victoria's Secret Angel.

Naturally, guys would kill to have the kind of backstage, uninhibited access to the Victoria's Secret scene like Taylor Swift - but then, they have their reasons.

Anyway, Jessica Hart was backstage, about to walk in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show one year, when some nosey reporter or gossip-monger decided to ask her about Taylor. Then, quite innocently, Jessica answered the question about whether Taylor Swift could pass as an actual Victoria's Secret model. Without much hesitation, Jessica gave a firm "No."

That was bad enough - bad in a way we're about to get to. However, Jessica piled up the offense - and offense we're about to get to - by elaborating or elucidating or elongating or however you want to put it:

I think, you know what, god bless her heart. I think she’s great,” she said. “But, I don’t know, to me, she didn’t fit. I don’t know if I should say that. I think what you find is that for a lot of us, we’ve been working for 14, 15 years; what it takes to make it here comes from experience and confidence and knowing how to be confident with yourself. I think it comes with age. It’s definitely the benchmark of all jobs.

Jessica's off-handed commented wasn't even the point of the whole article. It was just a throwaway, like, Do you like to wear those Angel wings? Would you like to wear the "Fantasy Bra"? What's your professional opinion about how Taylor Swift would look in it?

Well, "so what," right? Everyone's entitled to their opinion.

Well, yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion. At least, they're entitled to their opinion, and to express it, if they live in the good ol' US of A where girls who grow up on Christmas tree farms can grow up to dominate modern culture.

However, having an opinion and expressing it and also walking in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show can be, well, let us say, incompatible if your opinion is a slightly shaded one about someone who happens to dominate modern culture.

Well, there is no confirmation about anything in this field. Someone sees something in the trades, mentions it to a certain highly placed person who dominates modern culture, certain evil looks are given, various ways are made to communicate these looks to various highly placed individuals at a certain lingerie company, and things happen - that's how it works under the bright lights of Broadway, folks.

Jessica Hart never again walked in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Well, you know, maybe she just didn't want to. Whatever.

But, really, what's the point of dominating modern culture if you can't get someone banned from the peak of their profession because they threw a little thoughtless shade at you.

Anyway, when you combine that incident with the tales about Taylor loving 'em and leaving 'em and then using the "leaving 'em" part to write hit songs - you get a more rounded picture of someone who dominates modern culture.

Like all modern celebrities, Taylor Swift is all about philanthropy. She has contributed lots of money to Worthy Causes.

Taylor's donations include large sums given to various local Nashville outfits, such as the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Nashville Public Library, and the Tennessee Disaster Services.

Taylor also donated to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee.

Everybody wants to figure out Taylor Swift's political leanings. Taylor did date the aforesaid Kennedy, which probably wasn't wasn't because he was just Joe from down the block. She said some complimentary things about Barack Obama when he was first elected. However, since then, Taylor has kept very quiet about her political preferences. Given how polarized politics has become, Taylor is very wise to do that.

Taylor Swift has lent her stature to various political causes that are at least arguably non-political. For instance, the music video for her song "Mean" addresses homophobia in schools.

Anyway, Taylor Swift is a cultural icon, and we're sure to see a lot more form her in the future.